


Sweet Poison

by TofuTurtleHime2468



Series: Story Collection [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: F/M, Horror, M/M, Romance, cross-posted on asianfanfics, gory, possessive love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-15 08:33:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11227236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TofuTurtleHime2468/pseuds/TofuTurtleHime2468
Summary: The story of how the new owners of La Belle Shoppe met and how their...uniquerelationship began.





	1. Take a Sniff of It

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel-prequel (if that makes sense? Well either way I'd suggest reading the one-shot first so that you understand what type of story you're getting into) to [Doll Shop](https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1112648/8/story-collection-junghan-jihan-wonhan-jeonghan-junhan-2han-gyuhan), a one-shot in [Story Collection](http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1112648/story-collection-junghan-jihan-wonhan-jeonghan-junhan-2han-gyuhan).
> 
> So yeah, I decided to extend the one-shot into a bit of a story since it was interesting to write about. [Btw, since it is an extension, it probably won't last that long- maybe 5-10 chapters?]
> 
> WARNING: I may or may not get graphic with blood, but I'll mark it as M-rated if I do go into detail about it.

"Ew it's Wonwoo!"

"Run away before he kills you!"

All of the kids scream as they run around, their own type of game of "cooties" except where only Wonwoo was the one with "cooties", except it would never be a game that Wonwoo is interested in. No, he was far more interested in this book about the story of the woman who had turned her daughter into a manequin for her wedding dress shop.

 _I thought they were 8th graders like me too. Can't believe they still play that..._ Wonwoo rolled his eyes before continuing his story when a different nuisance had come and disrupted his reading. Well turned out the nuisance was his teacher who dragged him to her office as usual before contacting for his parents to come. When they did come, they were just as bothered as usual as Wonwoo was.

"What is it this time, teacher-nim?" his mother did her best to restrict from saying it sarcastically as she sat by Wonwoo along with her husband.

"Well Wonwoo-ssi was reading- er- this today," Mrs. Kim picked up the book that she had took from Wonwoo before handing it over to his father and continuing to speak, "You see, that's not exactly age appropriate and I really do strongly suggest to keep a better eye on what he reads-"

"I don't see a problem here. It's a good book," his father replies dully after flipping through a few pages.

"But he's too young-"

"There's nothing wrong with being interested in a bit of anatomy," his mother adds, standing up to get ready to leave.

"It's too graphic-"

"Oh please teacher-nim, he's seen worse than this. Come on Wonwoo-ah, let's go home," his father stands up too before the three of them leave the office.

As they drove him, his mother was ranting about how the teacher couldn't seem to understand how their rules are for Wonwoo along with how they're too busy with research to constantly listen to the same nagging again and again. At first glance, Wonwoo could understand how people thought that they neglected him but in reality they didn't.

They were anatomists where their work is protected by the government no matter what they did. They took nearly everything in life in an analytical point of view; whenever it was nearly, the exception would be him, where they showed a bit more of a 'human' side where they were more than happy when he showed interest in anything related to anatomy and encouraged that interest, no matter how graphic it could lead into.

"Ah, all this ranting is making me parched," his mother lets out a sigh.

"Wonwoo-ah, do you mind if we stop by a doll shop?" his father asked without looking away from the road.

"It's fine. Why do we need to go there?" Wonwoo asked, a bit curious as they were now arriving to an unfamiliar and nearly abandoned shopping center.

"We pre-ordered a couple custom-made models for keeping track of diagrams whenever there's a meeting. You don't have to come with us if you don't want to," his mother said, taking a look over to Wonwoo, who shook his head to signal that he didn't want to go into the shop. They left the car, opening a window by Wonwoo's seat a third of the way.

Once they entered the shop that had 'La Belle Shoppe' painted onto the window, Wonwoo lets out a sigh before looking out of the window before seeing a boy around his age writing something on the sidewalk with a piece of red chalk. The boy looks up, staring into the window at Wonwoo's parents before his gaze changes to the car, meeting gazes with Wonwoo, who was a bit surprised when he got a full view of the boy's face since the boy was rather pretty.

The boy smiles, standing up to wave at him. Wonwoo hesitatingly waves back. He takes a step, planning to head over to Wonwoo obviously when someone called out, "Jeonghan!" making the boy divert his attention to a boy who was a bit taller than him, dragging away the boy to the shop.

It was odd for Wonwoo because he's always found the world dull but here he was, feeling a bit breathless.

"'Jeonghan' huh... beautiful... just like a doll..."


	2. If You Don't Shy Away From It

On the weekend, Wonwoo did a bit of research about La Belle Shoppe before grabbing some money leftover from his parents to head to a bus stop for a city bus.

La Belle Shoppe was an underrated shop, however the little customers they have praise greatly about the craftsmanship of the dolls. The ownership of the shop was completely hereditary, which was apparent with how isolated it was along with the 1900s feel that the shop gave off- meaning it was easy to deduce that Jeonghan would be the next owner of the shop once he was old enough.

This was the first time since he felt even an ounce of care for a person, never being able to be empathetic with actual nor nonfictional people. He tries to figure out what exactly made this Jeonghan boy so interesting as he heads towards the shop. In the end, he wasn't able to figure out a reason and was stuck with suddenly meeting said boy out on the sidewalk again.

"Oh hey, you're that boy from last week!" he exclaimed, running over to Wonwoo with a smile.

Wonwoo could only nod, a bit surprised that the boy remembered him.

"Are you the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeon? It was the first time I saw them come by with someone other than just themselves," Jeonghan rocked back and forth with his heels.

"Yeah... Wonwoo."

"Nice meeting you, Wonwoo! I'm Yoon Jeonghan, although you might of heard that when Mingyu came by," Jeonghan awkwardly laughed before remembering something, "You haven't been in my parents' shop yet, have you?"

He shook his head 'no' before Jeonghan grabbed his hand, "Then come on. You'll come back later on too, right?" he asked, blinking innocently at Wonwoo, who could only nod his head. It was worth it to agree when the boy's face lit up, "In that case, I'll show you to my room too!" he dragged Wonwoo into the shop, pausing for a short amount of time to give Wonwoo a glimpse of what the interior of the shop looked like.

The stands on display were covered with velvet red clothes as dolls were sitting on it whereas the inside was filled with shelves and tables made out of wood with intricate designs carved into them on the edges and sides of them. In the corner of the back part of the shop, there was a desk that surrounded it with a man already sitting there, who narrows his eyes at them, "Jeonghan, who is this?"

"Ah- he's a friend, Jeon Wonwoo. He's the son of the Jeons that come over to get their custom models, dad," Jeonghan smiled but only received a huff of acknowledgement from the man. They continued on before reaching two staircases- one leading up and one leading down- where a gate that wasn't locked at the moment blocked it, letting Jeonghan simply pulling it open and leading Wonwoo upstairs where they were greeted with a normal living room before continuing on to a room nearest to the entrance.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Jeonghan asked.

"I already had lunch..." Wonwoo looked around the simple room until he saw some baskets in the corner containing fabrics and thread along with partially finished outfits.

Jeonghan took notice to where Wonwoo's gaze landed on, "Oh, I help mom time to time with sewing the clothing for dolls. I have to practice to help the shop any way I can when I own the shop when I'm older so it's good to practice now."

"Who makes the dolls then?" he asked as he walked over to the basket containing clothing, picking up a dress that was finished. His finger runs over a sewing of red thread filling out the shape of a small 'J' at the trim of the dress that it matched.

"Dad does. I'm not interested in doll making though so we're in a bit of a pinch for the future," Jeonghan awkwardly laughed before remembering, "But Mingyu said that he would help out when we grow up, well, it's not going that well since he's so clumsy and drops the porcelain pieces all of the time..."

 _There's that name again..._ Wonwoo turns around and looks up at the boy, "Who's Mingyu?" He didn't mean for it to come out with a bit of annoyance laced with it. Wonwoo quickly closes his mouth, unsure as to how that tone came out, while Jeonghan walks over and crouches besides him.

"Mingyu's that tall kid you saw last time. He takes my home-schooled lessons with me since he lives outside at the border of a rural town next to ours. We're basically each other's only friends... well, more like he's my only friend since there's not much life in this centre, but there's you now, so it's not all that lonely anymore~," Jeonghan smiles at him, making him feel a bit weird when there was a new feeling he felt.

They look at each other before Jeonghan asks, "Hey, when we met for the first time, did you feel that too?"

"That feeling?"

"Yeah... like a kind of breathless feeling," Jeonghan's eyebrows furrow a little in thought, "I'm not sure how to explain it..."

It takes a moment before Wonwoo could comprehend what the latter was talking about, "You mean feeling the need to p-"

"Jeonghan! Mingyu is here!"

Immediately, the boy in front of him lit up and got up and ran out of the room. Wonwoo hears his laughing along with a voice he was fairly unfamiliar with laughing. He sits up before slowly walking over to the doorframe, looking out to see a boy that he could assume as Mingyu hugging Jeonghan, making the latter seem smaller than he already was.

When Mingyu noticed Wonwoo, he felt annoyed, feeling as though the tall boy was going to be as obnoxious as those kids he's forced to go to school with. Jeonghan finally realized that Wonwoo was left behind, going over to him and bringing him over to where Mingyu stood, "Wonwoo, this is Mingyu. Mingyu, Wonwoo," he points to said person while introducing them.

"Nice to meet ya," Mingyu grinned easily, however Wonwoo couldn't feel at ease when he was now up front with this boy.

"You too..." Wonwoo murmurs, his teeth almost gritting when saying it but it didn't seem like the taller noticed his tone of voice.

"Oh that reminds me, I finished some clothing for new dolls," Jeonghan pulls the both over to his room, talking more-so to Mingyu than Wonwoo, who was only immersed in thought as he watched the two happily interact with each other.

_Change that idea; he's more irritating than those children..._


	3. Take a Sip of It

At one point, Wonwoo's boring, monotonous schedule of dealing with those children, his teacher telling him off for reading a book that was too 'graphic' for him, and heading home changed to heading over to La Belle Shoppe instead. Every time it was worth it because he was able to see Jeonghan come out to greet him and drag him around every time. His days were looking better with the boy constantly smiling at him with happiness.

It was days like those that he actually treasured for once; every little bit he shares with only Jeonghan.

"Now that I think about it, I've never shown you the basement," Jeonghan said at one points when they went behind the gates. He awkwardly laughs, "You're probably bored seeing my room all the time."

 _I don't mind it. It's those moments where it's only the two of us..._ Wonwoo lets himself be dragged to the basement, noticing how it gradually grew darker as they went downstairs.

"Be careful of your steps, Wonwoo," his voice echoed throughout the stairway, "The light switch isn't until the last step, which should be..." eventually, the sound of a light switch flicking up sounded throughout the basement and the lights flickered for a few seconds before illuminating a room that seemed normal with the walls belonging to a normal house except with the ground that was made of concrete.

There were desks lined up along the walls with various doll parts and materials meant for making dolls and Mr. Yoon at one of the desks, dusting off minor imperfections of a doll face, giving a quick glance back to the two before continuing to add finishing touches.

"This is where the dolls and models are made since the basement is sound proof and it gets a bit noisy while the parts are being made," Jeonghan said while walking over to a desk that had doll hands laying down on them.

"Don't touch them if you're anything like that kid Mingyu," Mr. Yoon suddenly voiced, to which Wonwoo had to resist the urge at snorting to such a statement.

Well, there was still that bit of flaw to the schedule that could have been perfect for Wonwoo, the clumsy rural boy Mingyu who always dragged Jeonghan's attention to him. At the remembrance of that, Wonwoo honestly never thought that he would ask such a question.

"If I can make better doll parts than Mingyu, then would I be the co-owner of La Belle Shoppe with Jeonghan instead of him?"

* * *

"Wonwoo why did you say that?" Mingyu pouted as he helped Wonwoo and Jeonghan adjust dolls up on the stands meant for displaying.

"Say what?" Wonwoo replied back but knew very well what the taller meant.

"You know, the doll-making thing!" he turned to yell, accidentally letting the doll he didn't set up properly to drop and shatter on the floor.

Mr. Yoon lets out a huff of annoyance as he walks over there with a dust bin and broom from the cash register before shoving it to Mingyu, asking with a sarcastic tone, "Maybe because you're too much of a klutz to actually do the job properly and Wonwoo was able to improve so much quicker than you in the past year? As far as I'm concerned I'm still leaning towards entrusting him for co-ownership, now clean this up."

Mingyu was dejected, murmuring an apology as he brush the shattered remains into the bin, not taking notice to Wonwoo's slight smirk. The taller heads upstairs for a trashcan as Mr. Yoon heads back to the cash register.

"Although I feel bad for Mingyu since my dad is usually in a bad mood, I'm really happy that you're first doll is on display," Jeonghan smiled.

"Thanks," Wonwoo said before noticing that Jeonghan was beckoning for him to come closer. He was suprised when Jeonghan suddenly leaned in and placed a peck on his cheek, still smiling, "That's your congratulations~."

The kiss gave Wonwoo something different to feel about- he wasn't quite sure, but it's not something that he didn't dislike. No, in fact, he felt a slight tug against the corner of his lips. There was a sudden smack and crash that came from upstairs, before Jeonghan could comment about it, instead saying, "I'll go check on that," before heading upstairs, making Wonwoo feel annoyed again since he knew that that was for sure due to Mingyu.

He lets out a sigh before continuing to set up the dolls when the door opened and a girl with long, slightly curled hair walks in, voicing out, "Um- hello?" before her cheeks turn a light pink when meeting gazes with Wonwoo.

"What do you need help with?" he didn't bother to ask nor ponder over the blushing girl.

"Well- uh... the dolls looked pretty... so I was hoping to buy one...?" she looks down to her hands, playing with her fingers in a bashful manner. Wonwoo made sure that the dolls on the display sheld stayed in place before walking over to her, "Which one would you like?"

"The cheapest one...?" she looks up before loooking back down immediately. He paid no attention to it, instead simply leading her over to a shelf, grabbing a doll that was dressed in a pastel blue dress with blonde hair and bright blue eyes to match. By the time Wonwoo walked over to the counter where Mr. Yoon waited and placed the doll there, Jeonghan came back with a pouting Mingyu in tow by holding hands.

 _Ah, how I want to-_ Wonwoo blinked, looking at his hands,  _That was weird..._

"Thank you for buying a doll from our shop!" Jeonghan immediately took notice to the girl who shyly stood by Wonwoo.

"Um- I-I might come here more often to buy more..." she murmurs.

"A regular? Then what's your name?"

"Er- Sujeong... Ryu Sujeong..." she glances to Wonwoo beneath her eyelashes every now and then. Was this the supposed appeal he was suppose to feel that those cheesy romance novels talked about? He guesses that but he pretends to ignore such things, feeling more disgusted with the action like he does with plenty of people. It's really a wonder to him as to why Jeonghan is the only one that doesn't make him feel disgusted.

After finally selling the doll to Sujeong, it was closing time for the shop. Mr. and Mrs. Yoon had to head out to buy dinner while the three boys stayed at home and snacked on some leftover cake from the grocery store that Mr. And Mrs. Jeon had brought as a thank you gift for always complying with their requests for custom-made figures and having Wonwoo stay over.

"You think she's a rural girl?" Mingyu asked, getting a slice of cake from Wonwoo who was cutting the cake himself.

"Sujeong? Maybe. I don't know, I didn't really detect an accent from her," Jeonghan said.

"Well either way, she totally likes you Wonwoo-hyung," Mingyu grinned.

"Really now," Wonwoo responded curtly.

"Yeah, but I don't understand why she would fall for you in all honesty. You're so quiet and mean..." Mingyu mumbles off before receiving a slight slap from Jeonghan, who pouts, "Yah, there's plenty of other reasons to like Wonwoo." to which Mingyu pouts himself, "Then am I not good enough?"

"Mingyu..." Jeonghan tried to reach out to the taller.

"I mean, you've been with hanging out with Wonwoo-hyung more than me and... never mind..." Mingyu mutters, placing his slice of cake back onto the counter before heading out. Jeonghan passes a worried glance to Wonwoo before chasing after Mingyu downstairs, making Wonwoo feel annoyed with such an action.

 _Why couldn't he just stay?_ it took a moment before Wonwoo realized that he was gripping the knife tightly in his hand to the point that even his blunt, trimmed-down nails had left deep markings in his palm. He lets go of the knife and pulls back his hand, staring at his hands yet again and remembering what had happened when the shop was still open.

"This is..."


	4. And Slowly

"You've been growing out your hair."

That was the comment Wonwoo made one day when they were sitting in the corner of the bedroom on Jeonghan's bed with Wonwoo laying on the corner and Jeonghan laying his back on Wonwoo's chest. Jeonghan turns back slightly, his hair brushing against his shoulders slightly, "You've noticed now?"

"Well hair takes a while to grow, so it can't be helped that I've only noticed when I'm a sophomore now," Wonwoo murmured because he really did mean it. It did take him two slow years to realize that he really did fell quickly and not to mention hard. In fact, he was almost scared that the long-haired boy took notice to his heart that was beating at an uncomfortable pace for Wonwoo.

"You could've noticed by the time I've been starting to put it into a stubby ponytail," Jeonghan giggled, turning back and leaning comfortably onto Wonwoo again and adjusting a bit, "Do you like it?"

"I like it," the smell of strawberries was prominent and became even more so when Wonwoo wrapped his arms around Jeonghan and held him closer. Maybe this skinship was meant in a 'friend' way for Jeonghan, but it meant much more for Wonwoo. So much more.

"That's good," he giggles again, the sound being sweet for him.

A smile eases onto Wonwoo's face, "What made you keep your hair so long anyways?"

"It was something Mingyu suggested for me."

Unconsciously, the smile drops abruptly, a familiar feeling filling him.

"Wonwoo, are you okay?"

"H-Huh?" he couldn't help but stutter, knowing what Jeonghan was talking about but not daring to clarify or explain as to what just happened.

"Your hand twitched. Is your hand cramped from practicing doll-making? I know that my dad's hands cramps a lot if he's too focused in getting details for doll parts," Jeonghan said innocently, gently holding Wonwoo's hand. He turns around slightly, their faces a bit closer than normal, making Wonwoo helplessly stare at those lips, saying, "Hey, your birthday is tomorrow, right?" He nods slowly, in a bit of a daze as he unconsciously leans forward a bit. Jeonghan continue to speak with that same innocent tone, "So what do you want for your birthd-"

He covered those lips.

He didn't know how long, but when they backed away from each other, they were both flushed and breathless.

"That's all I want," Wonwoo breathed, resting their foreheads together. He loved the actual action more than he thought he would, thinking that this could grow dangerous as the thought of those lips became even more intoxicating then before.

"... Okay... doesn't sound too hard..." Jeonghan whispered back, seeming to be in the same daze as Wonwoo as he adjusts himself without removing Wonwoo's arms from his wait. The long-haired boy slowly reaches up, putting his arms around Wonwoo's neck as Wonwoo brings Jeonghan closer by his waist.

"Really?"

"Yes."

They sealed each other's lips again.

* * *

"And then I told them that I was going to go to a prestigious cooking college, but they just laughed! The nerves of adults some times..." Mingyu ranted as the four were preparing for dinner.

"Well you're a great cook, so I don't see what's wrong with that," Jeonghan said before tasting the soup and adding a pinch of salt to it.

Unintentionally, Wonwoo brought the knife down harder than necessary to cut the carrots. It didn't seem like anyone noticed, but he took a deep breath just to make sure that he didn't do that again and scare everyone. He thought about what happened a week ago to keep calm along with the previous days that copied that day. The breathe was shaky  before calming completely and continuing to cut the carrots as per normal.

"Guys, we're out of onions and chilli paste," Sujeong voiced out from the refridgerator.

"It has been a while since my parents restocked the fridge. Do you wanna head to the grocery market then?" Jeonghan asked, reaching up to untie his apron.

"I have some money on me, so yeah," Sujeong agreed, taking off her apron too and hanging it on a hook along with Jeonghan's that was below the sink.

"We'll see you guys in a while then," Jeonghan called out as they headed downstairs. Sujeong follows after the long-haired boy before stopping and smiling bashfully at Wonwoo before leaving Mingyu and Wonwoo to continue cooking the foods that didn't need onions or chilli paste.

"... Your cooking isn't that bad," Wonwoo admitted, having to deal with the truth that the taller was indeed a talented cook even though they were only high schoolers now. He would always find recipes to share for them to prepare with what they could consider as their 'friend group'. That was another thing that Wonwoo was forced to admit to: they were pretty close even with the not-so-hidden crushes that Mingyu and Sujeong have.

Mingyu looks over in surprise before grinning, "Thanks, hyung." The taller tasted the soup before nodding in approval, murmuring something about chilli paste before putting the lid and turning off the oven, He walks and stands next to Wonwoo where Sujeong's previous station was, cutting the little amount of onions into finer bits.

"You know, I never thought that Jeonghan-hyung would actually take my recommendation. It was honestly a thought on the spot," Mingyu started another conversation as per usual, "He looks beautiful thou-"

The tip of Wonwoo's knife was abruptly stabbed into Mingyu's cutting board, right between the latter's fingers. Mingyu was close to shouting out in surprise or panic or any kind of outburst before Wonwoo interrupted with a strictly monotone voice, "Mosquito. It was bothering me."

The taller blinked before looking closer to the blade where a rather large mosquito was split in half by the tip of the blade with blood slowly spilling out of it, creating a small puddle of blood that didn't quite reach the onions. Mingyu sighed in relief, not sensing the tense situation, "Jeez, you scared me there for a moment! Next time, just tell me and we could've used a less life-threatening weapon to kill it. I lost ten years of my life because of you!" He picks up the cutting board to go separate the onions and clean the board of the small mess, making Wonwoo let go of the knife.

"My bad..." he murmurs like it's an after thought though.

_Ah, that was close..._


	5. Become Addicted to it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writing this, it felt like it should end here... but trust me, there's still very specific plot points we have yet to run into, especially regarding with a certain giant...

_Five more minutes..._

He felt his senses dull at the impact of the concrete ground against his shoulder. There was a strong impact to his nose, but his body muted it as his head rang. He reasoned it's because his body had faced such a situation so many times.

_Just five more minutes..._

A liquid was poured over his head, drenching his hair and school uniform, mixing in with the blood that dripped out of his nose. From the scent...  chocolate milk? He couldn't help but scoff, "How childish," earning an irritated kick to his side. He wearily glanced to the side where his preciously read book about the human nervous system laid.

"Wonwoo?!"

_What is he doing here...?_

He forced to push himself up, faltering at the loss of strength in his arm. Wonwoo expected to fall again before being cushioned by the familiar scent of strawberries, long, auburn hair tickling the side of his face. His blurried sight catching sight of a needle cushion pinned with pastel-colored needles tied on that thin wrist.

After seeing Jeonghan trying to protect him, his presence served to remind him that coming to La Belle Shoppe acted as a runaway place from the ever-so childish people he had to be in the presence of at his school. An isolated, dream-like area away from civilization where he only needed Jeonghan to survive properly.

"You should step away from the freak, never know what'll happen to you if you stay so close to it, unless you know it?" the bully took a step forward, Jeonghan curling around Wonwoo tighter as thought to protect him with his pale, porcelain-like form.

"He's not a freak nor an it, he's my boyfriend," Jeonghan glared at the bullies through his hair that was beginning to come out of his unruly top knot ponytail. Wonwoo felt his heart thump against his chest at that, as though he was coming back to life. He fell onto the ground yet again, looking up to see Jeonghan's face scrunched up in pain as his bully held him up by his hair. Before Wonwoo knew it, he had let  _that_ feeling consume him at the sight of the boy getting hurt, pushing himself to stand up despite his weak state and snarling, "Let go of him."

The offender cockily smirked at that, shoving Jeonghan back as though he was a doll made of dirty rags, Wonwoo catching him securely and holding his wrists  for just a moment.

_Those eyes..._

The bullies began to walk away, snickering, before halting in their steps when Wonwoo chased after them and grabbed the offender's arm.

_Those eyes that gleam with disgusting mischief and ego..._

"Let go of m- what the?!" the arm he grabbed drops limply to his side, unable to react in time to Wonwoo grabbing his hair and pulling him over. He placed his fingers over one of the bully's eyes, watching stoically to how the bully screamed in pain, his friends watching in shock and confusion as the bully tried to free himself from Wonwoo's grip with one arm, the other arm twitching lamely against his side.

"Don't touch him ever again," Wonwoo stated, unphased by the scratching against his arm, instead focusing on the one eye and digging his thumb into the socket, the cries of pain becoming louder. He watched how the small trickle of blood and tears drizzled now, stating in a bored manner, "You're too dirty to touch him. So ugly and causing such a mess over a small needle."

Once he deemed the needle buried far enough without it reaching the brain, he lets go, shoving the sobbing offender away with his friends catching him. The offender held his eye with the only arm he could move, eye widening in fear, "M-Monster...!"

"Don't come near here ever again. Oh, don't bother crying wolf to anyone else either. After what you did to him, I wouldn't mind deforming you further," Wonwoo threw an unused needle onto the ground, the bullies immediately scurrying away in fear.

* * *

They sat in silence, Jeonghan tending to the bruise on his abdomen. Wonwoo glanced to his thumb, now clean from blood and tears yet remembering vividly of how the eye was damp, warm, yet malleable. If he had squeezed in his pointer finger and angled it just right, he swore he would've been able to take out the entire eye.

"Wonwoo, who were those people," Jeonghan broke the silence, pausing for a moment to meet his gaze.

"I guess, the equivalent to childhood friends, except in the form of bullies," Wonwoo murmured, observing how Jeonghan tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear.

"And they've been treating you like that even until high school?" Jeonghan asked, shoulders slumping at such a thought. Wonwoo gently held Jeonghan's face, tilting it up to give him a small peck on the lips.

"Well, school's over now for summer so I don't have to deal with teachers and students that hate me for a while. It was only five minutes until the bus came anyways, I could deal with five minutes."

"It wasn't five minutes. The bus was late and you lost track of time. I was worried something happened to you so I rushed to your school by foot and... you...!" Jeonghan bit the bottom of his lip, trembling from almost crying.

He pulled the long-haired boy over, holding him tightly against his chest, "I'm fine. And if you hadn't come, I wouldn't have heard you confirm that I was your boyfriend."

"Yeah, and I'm your's," Jeonghan clutched at the front of his uniform, weakly chuckling, "One of us had to say it at one point. I didn't want what happened on your birthday to be a one time thing anyways."

 _Mine... he's mine..._ Oh, if only Jeonghan understood how greatly those words affected him.

"But, Wonwoo... what did you do to them?"

He froze at that, unsure as to how to answer to that either. Jeonghan didn't seem to notice however, continuing on quietly, "I-I rarely travel outside, since it's so hard to get my parents' permission to go out... b-but that was the first time I heard someone scream that loudly." Jeonghan looked up to Wonwoo's gaze, eyes wide and lips visibly trembling, "Wonwoo, what did you do...?!"

All Wonwoo wanted to do was kiss the boy-  _his_ boyfriend again but knew that wasn't what Jeonghan needed right now. The thought of Jeonghan being his seemed to spur on more than just a feeling of being alive, but it also appeared to be what connected the thoughts that laid dormant in his head for who knew how long now, slowly allowing the words formed carefully, "I was only protecting you."

And God, did those words he just spoke felt so right for once.

The long-haired boy blinks, eyebrows scrunching up slightly, asking, "Protecting me...?" as though testing those words on his own tongue.

"Yes," Wonwoo carefully slid Jeonghan's hair-tie out of his already messed-up ponytail, watching the auburn strands fall to his shoulders. He picked up a lock of hair and held it against his lips, returning to meet gazes, "To protect you. To protect my boyfriend from everything tainted and filthy in this world."

Jeonghan- albeit after a pause for a thought- changed to look fixedly at the needle cushion on his wrist, whispering, "I don't understand."

Wonwoo had let go of the lock of hair in favor of lifting Jeonghan's chin back up and leaning in.

"It's okay, you don't need to right now."


End file.
